Renewable Petroleum With Sunlight & CO2

The discovery of hazards of Global Warming has led scientists & researchers to begin quest for new types of eco-friendly fuels. Minnesota scientists have been successful in making an alternative fuel using greenhouse gases. The process they've developed includes bacteria that create hydrocarbons using sunlight and CO2. The hydrocarbons can then be turned into fuel.

<em>Synechococcus </em>is the name of the photosynthetic bacterium that captures CO2 when in Sunlight and then coverts it into sugars. These newly created sugars are processed by <em>Shewanella, </em>another bacterium to produce the fatty acids. Janice Frias, biochemistry student from Minnesota University has succeeded in converting these fatty acids into ketones. The process then involves catalytic technology to convert the ketones into diesel, which can be consumed.



The researchers said that the process is an effective way of removing CO2 from atmosphere. CO2 is one of the major Greenhouse Gases responsible for Global Warming. Prof. Larry Wackett says, "It's also free. And we can use the same infrastructure to process and transport this new hydrocarbon fuel that we use for fossil fuels."

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